Water circulator for boilers



Oct. 5 1926.

S. J. LUPTON El AL WATER CIRCULATOR FOR BOILERS Filed Feb. 16, 1926.

INVENTORS 5AMu/ .J LuPraM QMM 1 A TTORNE Y.

' dinal section of the forward portion of a SAMUEL J. L'UP'ION ANDFRANCIS E. COLLINSON, OF WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA.

WATER "ornonnaron ron BOILERS.

Application filed Feb uar is, 192 Serial No. 88,694.

Our invention relates to locomotive boilers and has particular referenceto apparatus for IIItIOClHOIIID feed water thereto whlch will improvethe circulation within the boiler.

In boilers of the locomotive type in which the portion of the boileroutside the fire box comprises a cylindrical shell substantially filledbelow the water line witha plurality of horizontal fire tubes, the watercirculation in the lower portion of the boiler and at the forward end isnotoriously sluggish. This condition is due to the fact that thelowermost rowsof tubes transmit a relatively small amount of heat to thewater in the boiler, and also to the presence of a considerable layer ofwater below the level of the lowermost tubes, to which insufficient heatis transmitted to cause it to rise and mingle with the rest of the waterin the boiler. r

The existence of this comparatively stagnant body of Water in the bottomof the boiler materially'reduces the steaming capacity of the boilerbelow that which can be secured with an efficient circulation of waterthroughout the boiler, and the principal object of the present inventionis toimprove the boiler circulation and thereby increase the evaporatingcapacity and efficiency of the boiler. Further andmore detailed objectsof, the invention and the manner of their accomplishment will appearmore fully in the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment of the invention, illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which Fig. 1 is a fr agmentary longitulocomotive boiler to which ourinvention has been applied, certain parts being shown in elevation. Fig.2 1s a transversesection of the boiler taken on the line 22 of Figure 1,and Figure 3 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale, taken alongthe line 33 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the main. boiler shell is indicated at 1,with the for ward end of the boiler being formed by the usual flue sheet2, to which are suitably secured the fire tubes 3 and the large fines 4,the latter being adapted to receive superheater units (not shown). Acylindrical sheet 5, attached to the forward end of the main boilershell, forms the usual boiler smoke box.

In boilers of this description, the feed water, which may or may notbe-preheated, is delivered either by means ofa feed pump or anunectorthrough afeed pipe 6, usually entering the boiler atsubstantially its horizontal mid-section. As may readily be .seen froman inspection of Figure 2, feed water fetl to the boiler in this manner,whether it be cold or preheated, hassubstantially no effect upon thewater circulation (or lack of 1t) in the bottom of theboiler, and by ourpresent invention we propose to utilize the feed water, which, inlocomotive service is being substantially continuously supplied to theboiler, to promote a better circulation therein.

In order to accomplish thisobject the usual boiler feed pipe 6 isbrought forward of the flue sheet of the, boiler, through the smolrebor:sheet 5, and is extended by means of a p pe 7 to connect with .a fitting8 which provldes a passage'for the feed water to the boiler. The fitting8 'is centrally of the boiler an opening 9 at the lowest point of line tara preferably located to extend through sheet 2, the pipe? being curvedto substantially conform to the periphery of the sheet 5 in order toleave the locomotive smoke box unobstructed for access to the fluesheet. A second curved pipe 10, substantially conforming to theperiphery of the smoke box wall, connects an opening 11 in the fluesheet 2 immediately below the normal water level of the boiler, with thefitting 8.. i

The fitting 8, as illustrated in Fig. 3,, comprises a T shaped member,preferably an integral casting, forming an outer nozzle 12, and. aninnernozzle 13, located concentrically within the outer nozzle 12, ancllterminating ata point within the latter. The flanged end '14:, of thefitting forms apas sage at right angles to the nozzle 12 and con Tnected therewith, while the oppositely disposed end15 of the'ifittingforms an inlet passage for the n'oz'zle113 and the nozzle end of thefitting 8 is provided with an external flange 16, by which the fittingis suitably t m d-t e flue shee yfls by- Studs 17. A tight joint issecured between the flue sheet and the fitting by means of a suitablepaclc ing ring 18. The end 15 of fitting 8 is suitably connected to thepipe 7 and the pipe 10 is connected to the end 14 of the fitting.

The operation and advantages of the device will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and may be briefly summarized as follows: Feed waterentering the boiler through the nozzle 13 produces an ejecting actionwithin the nozzle 12 which results in drawing hot water from the upperportion of the boiler downwardly through the pipe 10 to be mingled withthe incoming teed water and forced into the boiler rearwardly along thebottom of the boiler shell. This action obviously results in an improvedcirculation. by replacing comparatively cool water in the boiler withheated water taken Tom the upper portion of the boiler. Thecomparatively hot water, centrally introduced into the front end of thebottom of the boiler, tends to rise, thereby setting up a circulation,as this risingcolumn ofwater is replaced not only by the incoming feedwater mingled with'more hot water from pipe 10 but also by water whichtends to flow downwardly from the lower side portions of the boiler.

Furthermore, scaling conditions within the boiler are. improved by theapplication of this apparatus. Feed water, even when preheatechis notbrought to a temperature which will precipitate most of the solidstherein, such precipitation usually occurring at. or near the point ofentry of the feed water into the boiler. With the usual location of feedwater inlet-that is, near the upper part of the tube bank at the forwardend of the boiler-the incoming feed water has precipitated from itquantities 0tv scaleforming matterjwhich adheres, and forms a hard scaledeposit on the upper rows of fire tubes near their forward end. Thisscale formsan obstruction to the forward circulation of water along thetop of theboiler and materially reduces the effective eVapo: ratingcapacity of the, forward portion of the tubes. With the arrangementpresented by our invention, this undesirable condition is eliminated andthe. feed Water is injected into the boiler at a point where the.deposit of scale-forming matter will least ailect the steamingproperties of the boiler. Furthermore, impurities deposited on thebottom sheet of the boiler, which is comparatively cool, remain in theform of a soft sludge, instead of baking into a hard scale, and may bereadily removed by proper blowoii' apparatus.

In addition, the mixing of the. feed water with water at boilertemperature materially raises the temperature of the water en tering theboiler and this, together with the circulation which is set up by theincoming stream, assists in equalizing the water temperature throughoutthe boiler and thereby materially reduces the strains in the latter setup by the existence of unequal temperatures.

What we claim is:

1. In a locomotive, the combination with a firetube boiler; of a conduitleading from a point belowv and adjacent the normal boiler water leveland terminating in a rearwardly directed opening adjacent the bottom ofthe forward end of the boiler, and, a feed water supply pipe terminatingwithin said conduit in a discharge end directed toward the lower end ofsaid conduit.

In a locomotive, the combination with a horizontal firetube boilerhaving a i orward tube sheet; of a conduit connecting an opening in saidsheet below and adjacent the normal boiler water level with an-openingadjacent thebottom of said sheet, and a feed water supply pipeterminating within said conduit in a discharge end directed towardthelower end of said conduit.

3. In a locomotive, the combination with boiler having a plurality ,ofhorizontal firetubes connectedto a forward tube sheet, and a SIHOkQbOXextending forwardly of said sheet; of a conduit connecting an opening insaid sheet below and adjacent the normal boiler water level with anopening in said sheet below the lowermost of said tubes, said conduitlying adjacent the periphery of said smokebox, and a feed water supplypipe passing through said smokebox wall and terminating within saidconduit in a discharge end directed toward the lower end of saidconduit.

l." Ina locomotive, the combination with a boiler comprising aforwardtube sheet, a plurality of horizontal fire tubes connectedthereto, said sheet having an opening located adjacent the peripherythereof above said tubes and below the normal boiler water level, and asecond opening located centrally below said tubes, of a fitting attachedto said flue sheet and comprising an outer noz-- zle extendingrearwardly through said sec- 0nd opening, and a rearwardly directedinner nozzle terminating within the outer nozzle and spaced therefrom;apipe connecting said first named'opening with the outer nozzle, saidpipe lying substantially at the cir-= curnlf'erence of said sheet, and afeed water supply pipe connected to the inner nozzle.

SAMUEL J. LUPTQN. FRANCIS n. G'OLLINSON.

